Feb 06, 2011 | pgibbons | 1862 views
Lightning Midget A's Eliminate Top Ontario Teams at Silverstick
The Saugeen Maitland Midget A's showed that they
can play with the best in the province after taking first place in round robin
play on the weekend at the International Silverstick in Sarnia. The round
robin draw faced them against three Lower Lakes Female Hockey League regular
season champions, including the Belmont Blazers, who were also the Ontario
Womens Hockey Association provincial champions in 2010, the Scarborough Sharks
and the Barrie Sharks, who also finished up with top standing in their 6 and 8
team divisions respectively.
In the first game of the tournament, the Lightning skated to a 1-1 tie in a very strong team effort against their regular season rivals from Belmont. Unsatisfied with the tie, Saugeen came out even harder with a convincing 4-0 win against Scarborough, who had defeated the Lightning in a previous tournament and were unprepared for their improved play. There was never a doubt in the match against Barrie, as the Midgets pulled ahead 3-0 and only gave up a single goal late in the third period. This gave the Lighnting 5 points for first place in their pool. With Scarborough seated in second with 4 points, the dumbfounded Belmont club were eliminated from further play.
Quarter final play saw the Lightning matched up against the Oakville Hornets, the midwest Lower Lakes champions, who finished up with only 2 losses in regular season play. Oakville pulled ahead with three first period goals which proved too much for the shorter Lightning bench. Although the girls fought with heart throughout the remainder of the game, they came up short with the 5-2 loss.
The Midget A's are now poised for the opening round of playoffs against the Kent County Fillies, with the first game in Ridgetown next Saturday.